27 March 2007

She started chewing on her sutures as soon as the anesthetic started to wear off, so she is wearing the dreaded cone of doom! For at least 10 days! for sure, for sure.

The Dr. sent her home with pain killers. She said to try a half a pill every eight hours, but don't worry if it takes a whole pill. Muzzer is not sure whether Teka gets the pill or muzzer, but we have a call in to the vet. (hehehe)

She is not supposed to jump, get excited, or strain herself. Yeah right! This is Teka we are talking about!

Teka has asked that muzzer and I keep her fans posted on her surgery this morning. Wait a minute here, this is MY blog. Oh well, I'm really a nice guy, so I will do it.

This morning after we went for walkies, muzzer failed to produce the usual yummy breakfast. For either of us. Nada, nunc, nussing! Teka was quite upset.

First, she pulled all the binkies and pillow out of her crate. Then,

she gave muzzer "the look!" Didn't work. So she started pulling and tugging at her empty crate, and moved it away from the little table where it lives.

When muzzer made tea, Teka barked and barked! She thought muzzer was making breakfast. I tried to explain to her that she couldn't have breakfast because she was going to the vet, but I don't think she understands.

She was not a happy camper! I played with her for a while. I even

let her win a couple of tumble games. Then Dad came out and got her leash, and zipppp! Teka was by his feet and ready to go.

They were sooooo outa here, as Teka was heard to say on the way to my green Honda car.

26 March 2007

It is Monday, and Monday is one of the days that I, Gus Dagger w.f.t. go to the store to help my muzzer.

Muzzer and I have had many discussions about appropriate behavior in the store. I must not jump. I must not give kisses without permission. I must not beg (yeah, right.) I must greet every customer whenever possible. No peeing in the store, no pooping in the store.

We have also discussed appropriate attire. I, Gussie have felt for some time that my wardrobe of neckerchiefs does not reflect the elegance and savoir-faire of my breed. And it does not shed a totally positive light on the store. After all, Butchy wears the clothing his mom designs and makes. He has jumpers and shirts, even Hawaiian shirts, and when he wears a neckerchief. It is DIGNIFIED. Not goofy like the ones that muzzzer brings home.

So last week on her day off muzzer went waaaay into the back of Dad's closet and she found me some lovely foulard bow ties. She said Dad went through a "bow tie period" and these have not seen the light of day since then. Muzzer said maybe I am more of a bow tie kind of guy than dad is, and anyway, she thought it would make me handsome!

So today we decided to try out my new wardrobe. Muzzer had a bit of difficulty remembering how to tie one of these, but it seemed quite simple to me. All you really have to do is sit still!Anyway, I think it turned out quite well.

We tried turning it several different ways. Under my chin, but no one could really see it that well. It might work well for humans, but not for terriers.

Then we pulled it all the way around to the back, like it shows in this picture. I thought that was better, but not entirely satisfactory. For example, you don't really get the full effect unless I am walking away from you, or laying at your feet. We pulled it under one ear, and then the other. Muzzer and I agreed that this is the most flattering, and quite practical. Here is a profile view from my better side. I think it is quite dashing!

Finally, here is a view of me at the front door of the store. I am diligently doing my job as greeter, and enjoying the sunshine. The opinion of our customers today was unanimous. Everyone had a very positive opinion of my new "look!" Of course, I was on my most exemplary behavior, scored several snausages and a jumbone from one of my fans. Work is hard, but there are a number of rewards and perks.

Teka and I are excited about dinner. We are having salmon and asparagus! Muzzer fixed a special meal for Teka's dinner since tomorrow is her big day! And she does not get any food after 7:30 pm tonight. Bummer. Guess it is a good thing Gus went to work today and had his share of snacks. Updates tomorrow as soon as I am able. Regards to all. Must go decide which tie I am wearing on Wednesday!

ps: To E.Rabbit and Dad. I am not giving up my St. Louis Cardinal neckerchief. It is still my favorite!

25 March 2007

Here in Azrizona, we have spring just a tiny bit earlier than some of the places where my blogger buddies live.

So, while Butchy and Snickers are watching the koi surface from their long winter sleep, muzzer is nursing her lilac bush through another year in the desert. It, in turn, rewards her by blooming twice each year. Once in the spring, (as they call it) and once in the early fall when the nights cool off a bit.

There aren't too many lilac bushes around, and muzzer and dadreally liked this one when they were looking for houses. We don'tknow how long it has been struggling, but it must be one reallytough lilac bush! Not only does it do OK in the desert, but it hassurvived muzzer's brown thumb for more than twenty years!

It is on the corner of the house nearest the room that used to belongto E.Rabbit when she was a teeny, tiny girl. It smells really good inthe fall, and just a little bit now. But you have to get really closeto smell it because the orange tree blossoms conquer all.The only other thing muzzer has any luck growing are her roses.(Well, she does OK growing puppies and dogs and kids, but we don'tget planted!)

Two of her favorite bushes are blooming now in the front yard. Shesays they are "heritage" roses that a friend of hers planted for hermore than ten years ago. Last year they didn't get pruned becauseshe was in Virginia with me and dad, and so now they are tallerthan muzzer!But they are still making pretty flowers, and she tells themevery morning that they just need to hang on a while longer, andwhen they go dormant, she will get them pruned!

Teka and I can't figure out why that is a promise, not a threat.But then, we aren't roses.

Teka is on track for her surgery, we are at T-2 and counting.Dad is hoping that Teka will slow down for at least 24 hoursso he can sleep past 5:00 am. Muzzer is trying to tell him notto count on it.

21 March 2007

This morning after we went for walkies we discovered that the sprinklers were on in our back yard. Teka went running toward the sprinkler in the middle of the yard. She was running very FAST! She was having a very good time.

She has a good time with the sprinklers! First she gets all wet by running and running. Then she picks the best sprinkler of all to play with and concentrates her efforts on that ONE sprinkler head.

She puts her little feet on it it see if she can stop the water from coming out of the sprinkler. She digs underneath it to see if she can make it stop. When none of that works, she starts to drink and drink and drink to keep the water from getting away! She is a very little dog, and there is a lot of water coming out of the sprinklers.

She turns her little doggy head this way and that way! She thinks if she can just get a good bite of it, it will stop putting all that water on the ground.

I, Gus Dagger wft, try to tell her that she should not drink so much water. I try to tell her that she will be very sorry if she keeps drinking all that water. I tell her she willhave a tummy ache! And even in Arizona, she gets soooooo cold that she shivers and shivers. But does she listen to me? No, NO!

So I go up to the porch and get my feet dried so I can go in and have breakfast. Muzzer has to chase Teka with a towel to get her dried off. That is pretty funny.

Then muzzer wraps Teka in another towel and takes her in to Dad to get her warm. That is REALLY funny.

What is not funny is that Teka has so much water in her tummy that she cannot help herself. She pees on the floors. Not one time, not two times, not three times, but four times.

Muzzer does not think that is funny AT ALL. But she is the one who let Teka play in the sprinklers. Teka is not at all impressed. She goes into her crate and takes a nap.

20 March 2007

Well, just this morning we took a little tripUp and down the quiet streets, ole Teka let 'er ripTrailing her pink puppy leash, with muzzer right behindTeka making fools of us, we must've lost our mind

Oh, she ran through the rocks and she ran through the cactusAnd she ran through the bushes where muzzer couldn't goShe ran so fast even I couldn't catch herI thought that we were heading for Nogales, MexicoTeka must've thought she was gonna take a skipShe waited for a chance to go, and then she made her slipMuzzer bent down with her bag to pick up Teka's prizeTeka jerked the leash away and gave us a surprise.

chorus....She ran into the neighbor's yard, and then across the streetShe ran to find that kitty cat that muzzer thinks is sweetShe ran to tease the doggies living right behind the fenceShe ran and ran 'til Gussie dog was clear out of patience

Chorus.....Running to the left and then she's running to the rightI really thought that she was gonna run until the nightRunning down our street again, then up the other sideDarting back and forth again, oh what a joyous ride

chorus...

She headed for the big street where the cars all go so fast.And then a runner grabbed her leash as she went running pastWhen mum and I caught up with her, she gave us a shy smileAnd then she licked the runner's face and showed him all her wiles.

He told her she was "oh so cute" and scratched behind her earsHe put her down upon the ground and laughed at muzzer's fears.He said that Teka really was a "darling little dog"And then we headed home again to write this in my blog

She ran through the rocks and she ran through the cactusShe ran through the bushes where muzzer couldn't goShe ran so fast even I couldn't catch herI thought she would end up in Nogales Mexico

19 March 2007

Hello Friends and Fellow Mystery Lovers.I, Gussie, am about to recount the mystery of the dead duckie. If you are squeamish or get sick at the sight of blood, perhaps you should skip this post. I will understand. I too used to have a gentle and retiring soul, and was loathe to look upon carnage.

Then Teka came to live with us.

Perhaps you remember last evening when I said that I was going to help muzzer relax in her tub with her rubber duckie? Muzzer and I were floating the duckie in the tub and making him ride the whirlpools and bob along in the tides. I was being quite polite, merely observing and occasionally singing to muzzer so she could relax more easily. We whiled away a pleasant evening in this fashion, but the time came, as it always does, to drain the tub before muzzer resembled a raisin. (she it too short to be a prune, tehe)

We carefully dried the duckie and put him on the ledge while we drained the tub. We were careful not to start the drain operation until we had Duckie safely out so that he did not get trapped in the suction and pulled away to Sewer land.

Alas, perhaps we should have let him start his jouney in his own fashion. It would perhaps have been a happier end for him.

Muzzer dried off and greased up. I don't understand it, I'm just reporting the sequence.

We went in to my bedroom to watch TV. Suddenly there was a noise from beneath the bed.

Chomp Chomp Chomp Chomp. Hackie. Chomp Chomp.

Muzzer said "Gussie...what is Teka eating under there. If she has stolen another shower puff, I will scream." (the score is Teka 4, shower puffs 0)

I bravely jumped off of my bed and scurried under the bedframe. OH NO! There were bits of yellow and orange rubbery plastic all over the place. How shall I tell muzzer? She will be very unhappy with Teka. I bravely picked up a piece of duckie beak and took it up to muzzer.

She screamed! Oh, the words I learned.I helped collect small pieces of the duckie, and we placed him in the trash can.

Teka ran and hid under the sofa. We had a good chase session before Dad intervened and took the remains of the duckie away from her.Poor Duckie. He has followed sqrrll to the burial ground.Teka knows where he is buried. She was in there earlier sniffing around.

18 March 2007

I think we are back, at least partially. We still have one desktop that cannot find the internet, but muzzer is working on it dog-gedly.(hehe)

So, with no further ado, I will attempt to catch up on events of the last week:

1. I spent a lot of time sleeping at the store while the new floors were being installed. Muzzer says I am only getting half pay for the hours I spent sleeping. Sheesh! Doesn't she realize that my main job function is "cute?" Doesn't she think I can be "cute" while sleeping?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch......Dad and Teka were supervising the guys who installed the floor. Teka is bossy enough that she could have taken care of it all by herself, but she needed Dad to translate for her.

This is what one section of the new floor looks like.

It is the area that Teka "christened" about an hour after the installers left on the first day.

Boy...am I glad I was sleeping at the store when that happened!

Here is what Dad's office looks like with the new floor.

Pretty classy, huh?

Now he is talking about oriental rugs to muffle the ticky tacky of little toe nails.

Interrupts philosophizing big time!

The bedrooms all got new carpet, but it is pretty boring, so I am not including a picture. All the bathrooms got to keep their tiles, and so did the kitchen and dining room. Boy, did the human parents ever make a mess moving stuff from room to room to make a space for the installers to work. Dad says muzzer is not much help when it comes to moving the heavy stuff. The spirit is willing but the arms are short! He got in a lot of trouble for saying that, too.

2. This week muzzer also set Teka's appointment to visit the vet and get "spayed" for Tuesday the 27th. The vet says the hardest part will be keeping Teka relatively quiet for a couple of days. I wonder if this means she can't jump on the bed and wrestle? Time will tell, but it isn't going to be a pretty picture.

3, Muzzer broke the window on my Honda, and it had to spend the day at the Honda Hospital getting a new regulator.

4. We celebrated the one month anniversary of muzzer's visit to the opthalmalogist. She is supposed to be getting two new pairs of glasses....one for distance and one for blogging. She has been driving back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. The net result is one pair of glasses for distance and ZERO for blogging. Good thing she is a touch typist or we would never get this blog up and running. She wants to try the new contacts that are available for one of her vision problems, but she thinks this whole mishmash has been spooked by the gremlins and maybe she will wait a while longer. After all, she has been wearing glasses for 56 people years now, why try to change things?

5. As E-Rabbit explained, muzzer also fried the brains on the modem. She has not been a happy camper. I am going to help her take a bubble bath. Maybe she will want to play with my green cuz and I can play with her rubber ducky.

All the news that is fit to print, and some of it that isn't.....love and kisses, I am so happy to be back. Gussie

13 March 2007

This is Gus's sister E. Rabbit here, writing to you from D.C. This morning, I received an e-mail from Gus asking me to make the following announcement:

I will be unavailable for a couple of days, since muzzer fried the brains on the modem and the replacement won't arrive until some time tomorrow, and I can't post at the store because blogger is being a pill about our browser here.

Gus says to send you all his best, and particularly mentioned that I should "tell Miss Snickers I love her."

I will keep you posted on any further news I hear from Gus, Muzzer, or Teka. In the meantime, here is a never-before-published picture of Gus lounging on some pillows back when he lived in Virginia. I have it on fairly good authority that he will spend the next few days in a similar position until he can resume his normal blogging activities.

09 March 2007

For all of you who were kind enough to ask: We are gettting some kind of woody stuff in the big study, the living room, the long hall, and muzzer's office (where my computer lives.) We have tile in the kitchen and dining room, also in the bathrooms. And we are getting carpet in the bedrooms, where I am planning to spend most of my time. Except, I gotta admit, tile feels lovely on the tummy in the summer.

I was planning on taking photos of the new neighbors tomorrow morning on walkies. Dumb muzzer left the camera at the store! E-bay stuff, phooey.

Miss Snickers, you will always be my bestest girl! There is no competition for your place in my heart. All my best sniffs and slurps are yours!

On our walk this morning Teka and I discovered that there is a new wft living in our neighborhood! Unfortunately, Teka made such a fuss that I didn't manage to get introduced, but....he/she has a Westie sib and a Beagle sib! and they just moved in to a house on the corner, where their humans have put up a temporary construction fence so the doggies can play in the yard. Muzzer has promised that she and I will stop some day when we are on our way to work and introduce ourselves properly. I will post pictures as soon as we do that.

Please go and visit my friend Ozzie's blog. He and his mom and his brother Romeo (watch out for this one, Boo!) are going to take part in a big walk to raise money to help fund research and treatments for Doggie Cancer! His address is http://ozzywftny.blogspot.com/ and he has links to take you to their donor page. Any help you can give will be greatly appreciated. I have agreed to work an extra day at the store this week so muzzer made a contribution for me! Think about this doggy pals; I have a job and an address and business cards, and I still don't have my own American Express Card. They must not know how credit worthy I am, huh?

On the home front, my muzzer has been remiss in editing and posting my blog entries recently because she is heavily involved in getting the house ready to have new flooring installed. Last year while we were living in Virginia one of the people who rented our house did not take good care of their dogs OR our house. So we are putting new stuff on the floors where the carpet has been! I think it is exciting, but Teka is telling me that the house just won't smell the same when they are finished! She will miss the smells, but muzzer won't miss the spots, so muzzer wins this round. (probably only temporarily)

Let's see, covered the new neighbors, covered the Ozzie walk, covered the new carpet and stuff....Oh yeah, happy fourth day of JoeyPalooza to all.

06 March 2007

Oh boy, it is March the sixth. That is a special day too! There are so many birthdays today that I am thinking about eating two cakes, just to make sure that I honor everyone properly. Muzzer says that will make me sick, but I know it will make me HAPPY, at least for a little while. Maybe I should just have a couple extra treats today, huh?

So, on to the Birthday celebrants!

Happy Birthday E.Beth!

Today my sister E.Beth is having a Birthday! She came by last night and let Teka say Happy Birthday to her! Muzzer says both my sisters are beautiful. Dad says she is prejudiced becausethey look like her! Whatever, I love them both. Since you had a picture of E.Rabbit last week, here is a picture of E.Beth. She is the one on the right, and that is "a friend" on the left. tehehehehe

Happy Barkday Joe Stains!

Today is the first day of Joey-Palooza! Joe Stains has his blog at http://www.joestains.blogspot.com. Maybe you want to wait to say Happy Joey-Palooza to him, though. It is Tanner Tuesday on his blog, and his doofus-y bruther busily butchers the language every week. Wouldn't want to shock any of my more erudite readers with that sort of trashy stuff!

And, today is the birthday of former Washington DC mayor Marion Barry. Now, I ask you. Is this not the most unusual group of birthday celebrants? I do lots of research to bring you the facts my friends, I can only hope you appreciate it!

And, many apologies to Pacco the Black Angel for not posting a good wish for his birthday earlier this week. My only excuse is that muzzer has been immersed in getting the house ready for new floors and carpet, and she has not been helping me as much as she is s'posed to with my blog. Sheesh! I may have to hire professional help. Wonder if I could afford to hire .........